TWO: CLAIMING OUR AUTHORITY
"These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you." Titus 2:15
God did not give us a spirit of fear, but One of power, love, and a sound and reasonable mind (2 Timothy 1:7). Fearfulness is not of God. The Holy Spirit is not one who makes us afraid; instead, He gives us the supernatural spiritual power of Christ, fills us up with His love, and then gives us the mind of Christ.
Satan is the author of fear. He and his demons are masters of fear. Fear is the fuel he uses to pull us away from the power of God's love. Satan walks around on this earth, looking for opportunities to deceive and destroy. We are called to be sober and awake because our enemy is ready and willing to devour us at the first opportunity – when he sees a believer submitting to fear. An older lion will get on one side of the prey and roar vociferously, producing fear in the prey and causing it to run toward the younger lions waiting in ambush to leap out and kill them. Satan uses the same technique! He roars to instill fear and then attacks. Without the submission to fear, our faith stays steadfast, and we can resist (1 Peter 5:8-9).
Satan is an enemy to be understood regarding the limited power God gave him to rule over the earth, but we are not to fear him. The only appropriate fear in life is the fear of God, a very different type of fear. The first destroys, and the second builds respect and unity. Our victory over Satan is laid out in the scriptures. It is total and complete. When believers apply by faith this victory, which is freely given to us by the Holy Spirit, we can overcome all temptations the enemy throws our way!
What is the will of Satan, anyway? The enemy seeks to use three primary tools; the world, the flesh, and his demonic forces. The flesh tempts, the world offers illustrative examples of sin, and the demonic forces pull it all together for the fall. He simply does not want you and me to hear the voice of the heavenly Father. For he knows that when we do hear God's voice, we are apt to submit to it. This is why he fills our heads with chaos and distractions. He doesn't care what distracts us; he just wants us to follow his voice and will. That is the ugly part of submitting to our flesh's temptations, for we are carrying out the will of Satan himself.
In 2 Corinthians 2:11, the Lord tells us, "so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes." Ignorance is the key here. God wants us to be wise as serpents and gentle as doves in our view and understanding of the devil's schemes. So let us not be ignorant!
The day you asked Jesus into your life, you became what the Bible talks about being a "believer." The moment this happened, God put the Holy Spirit into your body. It is just like a mother giving birth to her child, flesh of flesh. This is the same way our Spiritual re-birth takes place, Spirit giving birth to our newborn Spirit. As Christians, we become reborn, regenerated, filled with the Holy Spirit, and sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise (Ephesians 1:13). Now, here's the point: neither Satan nor his evil forces can enter our lives -- not for a moment. We are sealed and sealed with a promise. And be reminded that God never breaks a promise.
A believer's soul, made up of his mind, will, and emotions, is in the process of being transformed on a day-to-day basis. Satan knows this, so he takes advantage of deceiving the mind and emotions to have the will submit to temporary slavery. We must grow in Christ for the enemy's activity to be resisted. If you and I believe a lie and take action upon that lie, we give Satan a foothold in that particular area of our lives. Picture a tabletop; each time we submit to one of his lies and take action on this lie, the enemy places one more object on the tabletop. If the believer continues a pattern of submission to the enemy, the tabletop becomes full of his objects after a while. The process I took you through these past days was removing these objects one at a time. Now that your tabletop is clear, you must keep it clear. Use the authority you have been given to keep the enemy away from your table. He is coming back for another round!
To stay unconditionally free, stay in the habit of dispatching the power of Jesus Christ in all of your prayers and verbiage. The thoughts that torment your mind will cease; the feelings that overwhelm you will be gone, and you will remain enslaved to Christ.
There is constant victory available to us through our authority in Jesus Christ. Use it as often as you need to. Stand in your new convictions and learn to lead others with this newfound freedom. You are a man who has been delivered from the domain of darkness and transferred into the Kingdom of Christ's light. Walk in the light, my dear friend!
PRAYER:
Dear Heavenly Father, by the power of the Holy Spirit, open my mind to Your scriptures so that I might understand Your Word. As I read it, I pray that You will guide me into the practical elements of what You are saying. I understand that without You revealing the Word's true meaning, I will not be able to understand it in my strength. I choose to deny myself and pick up my Cross and follow the leading of Your Word. For this day, I decide faith to surrender wholly to the authority of God as revealed in the Holy Scripture – to believe Him. I accept only His Word as the final authority. I now believe that since I have confessed my sin, He has already forgiven and cleansed me. I accept His Word of promise to be my sufficiency and rest at full value, and I will conduct myself accordingly. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.
Please let me know if you prayed this prayer:
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STUDY:
Romans 12:10-13; John 14:15, 21; Acts 5:29; 1 John 2:2-6; Colossians 3:22-24; 1 Peter 2:13-20; and Colossians 3:20-24. (Share at least one passage with a friend this week)
